It makes me wonder just how much research any of those review writers ever bothered to do, given that restriction hasn’t actually been in effect for months now. As I noted in a previous post, it’s not only possible but easy to install the Play Store and Google’s applications to any tablet running a modern version of the Fire operating system. You don’t have to root it, you don’t have to hack it in any way. You have to change just one setting, then download some packages through the web browser.

Granted, the Fire doesn’t come from Amazon with the Google stuff pre-installed, but you would have thought that these reviewers could have spared a sentence or two to note that it can be added afterward with the greatest of ease. That could make a considerable difference in whether or not someone decides to buy the thing, after all.

So, just to make it perfectly clear, I’m going to run through the instructions one more time. These steps will work for the Fire 7, Fire HD 8, and Fire HD 10.

Allow Apps from Unknown Sources

The first step is to go into “Settings,” either by using the “Settings” icon on the Fire’s home screen, or by swiping down from the top and tapping on “Settings” there. In “Settings,” scroll down and tap on “Security.” When this screen opens up, switch the “Apps from Unknown Sources” to “on,” as shown here. This will cause a warning message to pop up, which you can safely disregard (as long as you limit your non-Amazon downloads to the generally-trustworthy Play Store, at least).

Install the Google Packages

Now, open the Silk browser, and navigate to this article. Click the following links to download and install the following four software packages in this order:

If the page says there’s a newer version of the package available, don’t worry too much about it. If the newer version is compatible with your Fire, then your Fire will update to it on its own once you get the Play Store’s automatic update function going. If you want to check the newer versions anyway and see if one of them is compatible, scroll down to the list of packages at the bottom of the download page. But bear in mind, you need to make sure that the version you download is listed as being compatible with Android 5.1 Lollipop or earlier. Otherwise, it won’t work.

David Rothman, TeleRead’s owner, found that he had to stick to the older versions of the package—the one featured—to get the Google apps working.

Restart and Launch Google Play

Now all you need to do is power your Fire off, wait for a few seconds after it shuts down, and then restart it. Once it finishes booting up, launch the Google Play Store and follow the instructions there for logging into your Google account. Note that you will need to have registered your Fire device with Google as per the workaround linked from the start of this article for it to work.

Not every app will be available in a Fire compatible version, and of those that are, not all of them will run properly (most notably, Gmail and Inbox don’t work right). But a surprising number of Android-only apps that aren’t available from Amazon will launch and run just fine.

And this makes any size of Fire a lot more than just a storefront on Amazon limited to only those apps Amazon wants to give you. You may still have to put up with the lock-screen ads (unless you pay Amazon or ask Amazon support to remove them), and won’t have access to some of the cool features from later versions of Amazon like screen splitting, but you’ll have an inexpensive tablet that is useful out of all proportion to its price for watching media, reading books, and doing other general Internet tasks.

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Published by Chris Meadows

TeleRead Editor and Senior Writer Chris Meadows has been writing for TeleRead--except for a brief interruption--since 2006. Son of two librarians, he has worked on a third-party help line for Best Buy and holds degrees in computer science and communications. He clearly personifies TeleRead's motto: "For geeks who love books--and book-lovers who love gadgets." Chris lives in Indianapolis and is active in the gamer community.
View all posts by Chris Meadows

36 thoughts on “How to add Google Play to the Fire 7, Fire HD 8, and new Fire HD 10”

@Chris: Yes, works fine on my 2017 Fire HD 10. I’ll see about updates of the Google Play Store and the apps there. I might need to mess with “allow apps from unknown sources” again. The new 10 is a great value for the money, by the way. I very much agree with the raves.

Thank you for the instructions. My Fire 8 HD had been sitting in a drawer unused until I saw your post and decided to try it. It was easy to do and I am now really enjoying being able to have my Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Google Play books on the one device. I do not like traveling with my iPad but for the price have no worries tossing the Fire into my handbag. Thank you again.

If we put the “how” in our review, or even recognize in the review there is a way to do it manually, Amazon will delete the entire review – right now, they are pre-reviewing all of the new HD10 reviews prior to letting them post vs. the normal automatic post. Your instructions are concise and easy to follow for all Fire users, thanks for posting!

I own a Fire 10. Yes, the earlier version from the download page will work on the 10 and, if need be, other Fires. Try Chris’s suggestion. Amazonized Android is behind times in Android terms. On the plus side, the newer stuff on the download page might bail us out when Amazon updates the OS.

It is good to know that the Amazon fire 8 has an easier way to install the google play store. This Amazon product is price, at a good price and the convenience of being able to load the google play store and services just made it, even more, valuable to shopping consumers. Achieving all desired function and features top line tablets have to offer.

Sorry about your problem, Andrew, and apologies to you and others for this late reply. I’ve alerted Chris Meadows to see if there’s a solution. Meanwhile I assume that the second time around, you installed the existing version of the package rather than following the update links. I myself installed the upgrade successfully on both my new Fire 8 and a new Fire 10. I’d hope that Amazon wouldn’t have changed anything and created an extra hassle. If so, one solution might be to try the updated upgrade package.

Update, 8:49 a.m. EST: Amazon apparently has created a new hassle, getting in the way of sideloaded apps. But this could be a possible workaround:

I am having the same problem. Apps are downloaded but I need to search for them on the search bar. When I click on them in the recently used section O am given the option remove from home or uninstall. However they are not appearing on the home screen.

I am trying to follow these instructions for my new Fire HD 8. I got this warning message. “com.google.adroid.gsf.login_5.1-1743759-22_minAPI21(n0dpi)_apkmirror.com.apk will damage your device”. Is that true? Any other options?

I have tried the whole process on my sons fire HD 8 several times and still get ‘pending’ on everything I try to download. Please can anyone suggest anything apart from clearing the cache to stop this happening?

Great article. One of the main reasons I traded my 2nd gen Kindle Fire for the Fire HD 10 was the fact that I read how easy it is to add the Play Store. Your step by step instructions worked flawlessly. All of the apps I’ve installed work, including Chrome browser. Thanks you for sharing this info!

Just want to say THANK YOU! Did what you all said and now I’ve got Google Play on the Amazon Fire. I was so surprised that it’s designed by default not to allow access to the Play store. I was thinking of returning the tablet, but I thought I would check to see if it’s possible to have access to Google Play apps, and your site guided me on exactly what to do. You’ve made it easy to install all the apps I want. Awesome!